


A Medical Curiosity

by annabeth_at_the_helm



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mpreg, Pre-Korean War, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24219160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabeth_at_the_helm/pseuds/annabeth_at_the_helm
Summary: It had seemed like a good idea at the time, like things do when you're three sheets to the wind.
Relationships: Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce & Daniel Pierce, Tommy Gillis/Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9
Collections: Banned Banned Together Bingo 2020, Banned Together Bingo 2020





	A Medical Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadesofhades](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadesofhades/gifts).



> Written for "teen pregnancy" on my [Banned Together Bingo card](https://bannedtogetherbingo2020.tumblr.com).

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, like things do when you're three sheets to the wind. It had felt right, too, felt _good_ , and being drunk had made the whole experience seem more rosy somehow. Hawkeye had clumsily kissed Tommy, and when Tommy—also wasted—didn't throw him off, when he accepted the kiss and returned it, oh, well. It had certainly seemed like a good idea… at the time.

But it's two weeks before Hawkeye's supposed to go back to high school, and he can't look at his father across the breakfast table, because Hawkeye's been nauseous for most of the summer now. He knows what it means: the constant throwing up, the way certain smells make him gag, the weight gain. His father's a doctor; Hawkeye's seen all kinds of weird things in those medical texts.

He just never expected to _be_ one of those medical curiosities.

But while a pregnant teenager might not be too uncommon—the modern teenager is having more and more premarital sex, his father told him when he gave him The Talk—a pregnant _male_ teenager is more out of the usual way.

Hawkeye pokes at his toast—the only thing he can stomach in the mornings—and avoids Daniel's attempts at conversation with monosyllables, trying not to think about the possible baby growing inside him or the fact that he hasn't had the guts to tell Tommy, either.

Tommy probably has a right to know; it's not like Hawkeye got into this condition all by himself. So he nibbles the dry toast, and beneath the table, his hand is curved over the small, hard swelling that is his stomach these days.

"Hawkeye," his father says, putting down the morning newspaper and pushing away his cleared plate. "I think we need to talk."

Hawkeye knows he must look terrified at these words; he wishes he had the funnies to hide behind, but his father would have found it suspicious if Hawkeye suddenly started reading the paper in the mornings. Hawkeye has always looked forward to breakfast together—he's not surprised Daniel would have noticed his new reluctance.

But what else could Daniel want to talk about?

"I haven't seen Tommy come around lately," Daniel says between sips of his morning coffee. It's his one cup of coffee a day, a ritual he sticks to no matter how much work he has to do at his clinic. In the summer, Hawkeye helps out at the clinic, but he knows he's been lethargic the last few weeks, run-down and lagging behind. His father surely recognized that, considering Daniel's accustomed to being the slightly slower one, seeing as he's older.

"He, uh, he had schoolwork to concentrate on," Hawkeye says, stumbling over the lies. The truth is, he hasn't been able to talk to Tommy, or see him, since the night they slept together. There was one awkward phone call the morning after, when Hawkeye had promised they'd go to the afternoon movie show the following week, and then Hawkeye didn't even have the courage to cancel—he just didn't show up.

"Oh?" Daniel asks. "Because I was under the—perhaps mistaken—impression that you were avoiding him. You've been friends since grade school. Did you have a fight?" Daniel finishes his coffee and puts the mug on top of his plate. He folds his hands and spears Hawkeye with blue eyes that are so much like his own.

Hawkeye knows his gaze has shifted away from his father's, knows he's looking into the corners of the room as if he can hide the truth. The trouble is, he and his father have been alone together for much of Hawkeye's life, and even though he and Daniel don't usually have _weighty_ conversations, Daniel knows his son. All too well, as proven by his next words.

"Benjamin…" Daniel begins and Hawkeye flinches. That's never a good sign. "I thought a youthful indiscretion would be a painful but ultimately harmless lesson to learn, but that hasn't been the case, has it?"

"I really don't know what you mean," Hawkeye mumbles into a mouthful of toast. But Daniel's eyes keep piercing him straight through.

"I mean Tommy," Daniel says. "You're my son, Hawkeye. I'm also a doctor. Of course I would notice these changes. I can't say I'm thrilled by it, but you seemed so happy at the end of the school year. Now you're sullen and withdrawn, haunting the house in a gloomy fugue all the time."

These are lots of words from his father, but there's no sense of foreboding, no condemnation in his tone. Daniel seems to be saying exactly up front what he means: that he probably doesn't understand it, but he loves Hawkeye enough to let him try and fall in love and fail. That his broken heart was something to get out of the way sooner rather than later, and that it didn't even matter that much if the person Hawkeye fell for was his best friend, Tommy.

But somehow, the sense of dread grows, and encompasses Hawkeye, a dark cloud he can't escape. He knows that isn't all of it.

"Tell me the truth, Hawkeye," his father says. He reaches across the table and touches the hand of Hawkeye's that's still visible. "Are you pregnant?"

Hawkeye gasp-sobs against their hands, now pressed to his mouth, and nods.

"Y-yes, I think so."

"Okay," Daniel replies, voice much softer. "What do you want to do? What do you need from me?"

And maybe it isn't really true, but all of a sudden it's like the sun is breaking through those dark clouds enveloping Hawkeye, and everything seems like maybe it will be all right.

END


End file.
